Researchers at Fanshawe College are trying to find out more about the healing properties of different types of raw Ontario honey.

Earlier this year, three beehives, built and painted by Fanshawe students, were installed in the campus’s garden in London.

The honeybees were purchased from Clovermead Honey Shop in Alymer.

The research project is a collaboration between Fanshawe and the Institute of Technology in Sligo, Ireland, where they have developed a product known as SurgihoneyRO reactive oxygen.

SurgihoneyRO, made from honey produced in Ireland, is considered a low-cost alternative to harsh antiseptics used to treat wounds, diabetic ulcers, sore throats, burns, digestive issues, and even flesh-eating disease.

“It’s a viable product and it’s on the market,” said Michael Jennings, a professor of biotechnology at Fanshawe. “What they would like to see is what it is like getting honey from different sources.”

Manuka honey, produced in Australia and New Zealand, by bees foraging among manuka flowers, is used for the treatment of infections and wounds.

Fanshawe College researchers received a federal grant of $25,000 in 2017 to begin assessing which honey in Ontario produces the highest levels of hydrogen peroxide from an enzyme introduced by the bees and whether high peroxide-producing honeys has the best healing properties.

“We wanted to start to look at honey from multiple bee keepers and multiple floral sources all across Ontario and our measure was peroxide content,” Jennings said. “It was a simple thing to do to get into the business and it was something the bee keepers wanted. If you’re selling honey as a sweetener, you’re getting $2 a kilogram, if you’re selling it as a healing honey you’re selling it for $20 a kilogram, so there was a financial incentive for them.”

More than 80 beekeepers have contributed honey, which gets graded by colour and peroxide measure.

“The object is to find which floral source, and we have diversity here to choose from in Ontario, gives you the best healing honey,” Jennings said. “Ontario honey has got a reputation worldwide for various healing qualities.”

Fellow researcher Cheryl Ketola, also a professor of biotechnology who started studying honey nine years ago, said uses for non-pasteurized, healing honey, are very diverse.

“I use it for my allergies,” she said. “I’ve used it when I was stung (by a bee), you could see the venom moving up my arm and I put honey on it; it worked very well.”

The researchers also studied how the storage of honey affects how much peroxide the honey will produce.